Hold Onto Anything Worth Fighting For
by chalantness
Summary: Prompt #177: to forgot. Spoilers for the end of the first season: A whole week of her life just gone from her memory, and the only person who probably knows what happened to her is in a coma.


**Title: **_Hold Onto Anything Worth Fighting For  
_**Rating:** T  
**Word Count:** 5,800+  
**Characters:** Roy/Jade with Wally/Artemis and everyone else  
**Summary:** Spoilers for the end of the first season: A whole week of her life just _gone _from her memory, and the only person who probably knows what happened to her is in a coma.  
**Prompt:** #177: to forget  
**Other Inspirations:** "Safe & Sound" by Taylor Swift

**Note: **Another plot bunny that I know probably isn't possible on the show, but I got inspired to write this after the ending of season one.

* * *

**Hold Onto Anything Worth Fighting For**

* * *

She wakes up with a pounding in her head, staring at a white-tiled ceiling.

It's not as if she's in the hospital often (hospitals mean questioning and questioning isn't exactly helpful with keeping secrets), but she knows enough to tell that she _isn't_ in one. The walls are steel and the monitors are holographic and she can hear her sister's voice. Her sister hates hospitals, something made worse by their mother's accident. If this were a hospital room, Artemis wouldn't be here.

"She's awake," a gruff voice announces. It's one she's heard before, one she likes to think she knows well.

Why is Red Arrow at her bedside?

Not that she really minds it, but she'd like it even more if she knew where the hell she was.

Roy has his arms crossed and his stare is almost vacant even though he's looking right at her. She wonders how much he knows. Probably everything, if she's going off how lifeless he looks. If she's being completely honest here, she misses the angry and riled-up Roy.

It's partially her fault that he's gone and she thinks maybe a small part of her regrets getting involved. Not that she had a choice, but still.

"This is the second time in less than a month that I thought you were dead," Artemis says, leaning over the railing. There're tears in her eyes and a smile on her face, and it's kind of weird. She can't really remember the last time Artemis smiled at her like that or looked so happy to see her. Actually, she can't really remember the last few days, either.

"Maybe you need to stop assuming things," Jade says. Her voice sounds raspier than she expected it to.

How _long_ has she been knocked out?

She brings a hand to her forehead and pushes her fingers through her hair, only to pull them back when she discovers a cut there. "What _happened_ to me?"

It's too quiet following her question, and when she looks up, the first person she sees is Red Arrow. A lot of guys have looked at her a lot of different ways, but there's something about the way this one is looking at her right now that she can't decipher.

It irritates her.

But then Artemis is taking her wrist in her hand and flipping it over so that the thin material of the hospital gown falls down, revealing stained bandaging, and answers in this soft voice, "A lot."

... ...

A whole week of her life just _gone _from her memory, and the only person who probably knows what happened to her is in a coma.

Of _course_.

She shouldn't be surprised. It's not like her dad has been any help to her before.

"You can't remember anything after we last saw you?" Artemis asks.

"If I _could_, do you think I'd still be here?" Jade retorts and Artemis presses her lips together in a line. They both know it's true, that her lack of memory and all of her stupid injuries are the only things keeping her in that bed and under their watch. They also both know she can escape from here if she tried, but she's not nearly stupid enough to throw herself out there in her current state.

Batman sighs, and Jade watches Artemis's fingers curl tighter around the guard railing, "It's not her fault."

"I know."

... ...

Being held in an infirmary room isn't much different than being held in a jail cell. You're stuck in one room the entire time and have to entertain yourself, and you only get visits when someone needs information from you or if they're bringing you food.

Except this room is cleaner and nicer and furnished, and the food actually tastes good.

And she'll bet none of the prison wardens look anything like Red Arrow, so.

"What's on the menu for today?" she asks without turning around. She's doing stretches on the floor in nothing but spandex shorts and a bra because she's sick of that stupid hospital gown, but she hears the wheels of the cart he's pushing and knows for a fact that it's Roy. He's the only one other than Artemis that bothers coming at all.

He grunts in response and she looks over her shoulder at him. He's got a mask on, but when she straightens up and stretches her arms over her head, she can _feel_ his stare.

(That was the idea all along.)

"You're here quite often," she muses. He shrugs one shoulder and she quirks an eyebrow. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were looking for excuses to see me."

His lips part slightly as if to say something, and then press into this tight line.

She frowns and narrows her eyes a bit. When he still doesn't say anything, she exhales loudly and walks over, pulling the cart back so that he has to let go and tells him, "Well if you're not going to speak or entertain me, there's no reason for you to be here, is there?"

For a second she thinks he's about to respond—yell back, get angry, say _something_—but he just mutters, "Enjoy the meal," and leaves.

She plops herself onto the bed and rips off a piece of the bread, popping it into her mouth and chewing angrily.

She hates him.

She _does_.

(But she hates herself more for wanting him to _remember_.)

... ...

"How long have I been here?"

Artemis gives her a look as she sets down a fresh change of clothes. "Two weeks, I think," she answers.

Jade rolls her eyes. "How long have I _known_ that I've been here?"

"Oh. Four days."

The most she's ever spent in any sort of prison or confinement was overnight, so that would explain why she's getting restless. Well, that amongst other reasons.

Artemis seems to sense this, too, because she actually gives this sympathetic look as she takes her seat. "You were pretty banged up when we got to you, Jade," she explains, watching as her sister rips the clothes out of their plastic and slips them on. "I know you must hate being stuck in here, but it's not like you can—"

"I _get_ it, Arty," Jade hisses, tossing her clothes at her. Artemis wrinkles her nose as she pulls a bra from her head. "I didn't ask for the lecture."

"At least you're stuck _here_," Artemis says. Jade just glares at her. "They were about to ship you off to Belle Reve."

"Why didn't they?"

"Because I asked them not to," the blonde answers as if this should be obvious. "Look, I chose to believe you weren't working for Da—for _Sportsmaster_ on your own will, and they trust me."

"You've always been a sentimental fool."

Artemis scoffs. "You're my sister. It's not like I want to see you die."

Jade pulls her shirt over her head to hide her grin.

... ...

Batman brings her food one day, and she raises an eyebrow and doesn't even hide her disappointment when she questions, "Where's Red Arrow?"

She asks this mostly for the sake of _doing_ something, because this is Batman and it's not like she was really expecting an answer. So when he replies with, "He's attending another therapy session with Black Canary," she has pause and contemplate the amount of detail he actually gave.

"How long have they been doing this?"

"Ever since he found out he wasn't really Speedy." Jade licks her lips lightly. So, he really does know everything.

(Well, not _everything_.)

"I'll admit," she says, stabbing a few pasta shells onto her fork, "I'm pleasantly surprised that actually shared this information with me."

"I wouldn't have, but he seems convinced that you're involved."

Jade almost stabs her tongue when she feeds herself. He _couldn't_…

Could he?

"I'm afraid he has no idea what he's talking about," she says, because it's actually the truth and she wonders if Batman knows it is, too.

... ...

"Bats said you can walk around, hit the gym or go to the cafeteria and stuff," Artemis tells her during her umpteenth visit. Jade's literally lost track of the hours since wherever her room is doesn't get an inch of daylight and apparently the Justice League never heard of wall clocks, so. But she's almost entirely sure it's been at least a full week since she's woken up.

Jade raises her eyebrows.

Artemis laughs. "He's like, quadrupled security precautions and everyone's paranoid. But yeah, you can stretch your legs now. Actually, I'm about to work out now and I need a sparring partner."

Jade rolls her eyes but follows her sister out because what else is she supposed to do in that hole, anyway?

But, when Artemis flips Jade onto her back and is laughing when she pins her older sister by her shoulders, Jade feels a grin tugging at her lips and is reminded of why she's always tried so hard to make sure they're never together like this.

She loves her little sister, and it makes her feel weak.

... ...

She waltzes into the kitchen with her hair in a ponytail and wearing nothing but the tank and spandex shorts she slept in, and everyone seems to watch her as she walks by.

It's something she's gotten used to. Everyone around here seems to give her a look that's somewhere between shunning her because she doesn't belong and being in completely disbelief that she's even there in the first place. The only ones who don't seem to treat her like that are Batman and Artemis and her little friends.

And Red Arrow, of course.

Speaking of which.

She walks over to where the coffee machine is and asks, "So, am I still being ignored, or what?"

Roy looks at her pointedly (she rolls her eyes at that) and hands her a mug from the cupboards overhead, "No."

"Why so down in the dumps, Arrow?" She tilts her head, angling a smile up at him. She'll bet he's narrowing his eyes at her from behind that mask.

She wishes he'd take the damn thing off.

"Memory loss," he answers, and she thinks she hears a hint of sarcasm or teasing or _something_ when he adds, "Which I'm sure you may be familiar with yourself."

"I know a lot more about it than you think," she laughs, and tries to ignore the _look_ Roy gives her afterward. "I'm surprised you're not taking all that anger out on criminals. Isn't that how all heroes vent? I know _I_ would if I was into all that _justice _stuff. Unless you've broken a—"

"_Don't say that_!"

His mug shatters when he slams it down, and her eyes lock with him as the shards and coffee slide along the counter, spilling everywhere. She feels a few pieces scrape her skin, feels a few drops burn her arm where it's pressed against the granite, but she stares at him through the whites of his mask and runs the pad of her thumb against the handle of her mug for the sake of doing something.

She can tell people are watching, but he's grinding his teeth as she licks her lips a little and says softly, "I wouldn't do that to you." She narrows her eyes. "I'd _never_ stoop to being like _him_."

He unclenches his jaw at that and just stares at her.

After what seems like forever, he mutters, "I know you wouldn't," and she hates the way she feels her chest tighten because it's like déjà vu and she's the only one that remembers it.

... ...

He drops by a little later with two mugs of fresh coffee and a large stack of pancakes on the cart, and she just smirks at him when he pulls her hand into his lap and applies Band-Aids to the cuts. They sit on either ends of her bed with their breakfast between them, put way too much syrup and avoid anything related to their memory losses as they chat.

(Apology accepted.)

... ...

Jade finds Artemis sitting on her bed when she comes back from lunch, and it's pretty obvious her little sister's pissed or at least distracted. She only braids her hair when she's trying to keep herself busy so she's not thinking about whatever's bothering her.

"Uh-oh. Is there trouble in paradise with your little speedster?" Jade asks.

Artemis laughs half-heartedly. "No, surprisingly not," she says, and Jade plops herself onto the mattress.

"Are you going to tell your big sis?"

She says it teasingly, which is honestly her usual tone with Artemis, and Artemis purses her lips and doesn't answer. It's understandable, she supposes, because Artemis will usually be stubborn and try to avoid her problems until she has no choice but to cave in. Though if Jade's being honest, this is one of those few times where she's in the dark about something. It irritates her.

"Well, if you didn't come in here to talk to me about your little feelings," Jade exhales, stretching her legs so her feet end up in Artemis's lap, "then what _are_ you doing here?"

Artemis pulls out a laptop from her bag, and they end up lying on their stomachs and make fun of a black-and-white Vietnamese drama that they used to watch all the time when they were little but weren't old enough to understand how ridiculous it was yet.

A few hours later when Artemis is about to leave, Jade learns the real reason of her visit.

Artemis bites her lower lip as the laptop is shutting down and slides it into back into her bag as she says, "Dad's awake."

Jade swears.

... ...

She's in the gym taking her anger out on a punching bag when she swings her leg and kicks, snapping it off of the ropes and watching is slide against the mats.

"You're not that bad."

She turns around to see Black Canary there with a hand on her hip, her blonde hair tumbling in curls over one shoulder. She's looking at the bag rather than Jade, but she's smiling at it like she can just imagine who it was Jade pictured it to be when she was beating it to a pulp. "You're not bad at all, actually."

"Thanks for noticing," Jade mumbles, pushing her fingers through the knots in her ponytail.

Black Canary folds her arms over her chest as she finally looks Jade in the eyes. "I'm guessing it's safe to assume Artemis already told you the news."

"If you're talking about the fact that our dear father has finally awoken from his slumber," Jade exhales, "then you can stop tiptoeing around the subject like it means anything to me. It doesn't."

"Then you don't plan on visiting him?"

"I never said that." Black Canary just looks at her as Jade smirks a little, tips her head back to drink her water. "Don't get me wrong. I don't owe my father _anything_, not after everything he did to me. He can rot in the depths of hell for all I care." Then she licks her lips and narrows her eyes at the punching bag on the floor as she continues, "But he's the only one who knows what happened to me."

Black Canary makes a noise of disapproval and Jade looks at her. "Is that such a wise idea? Some things are better forgotten."

"He doesn't get to take _my_ memories away, too," Jade says harshly, "He doesn't get to keep dictating my choices like—"

"Like he did with Roy?"

Jade glares slightly. "He got the lesser of two evils."

"Jade, you have a choice _now_," Black Canary insists, and Jade just shakes her head. "Artemis knows you can be saved, and the kids believe in Artemis. Batman believes you can be saved, too."

Her eyebrows rise at that. "Oh, does he now?" she asks. "And do you believe it, too?"

"I believe in Batman," Black Canary argues, stepping forward slightly as she unfolds her arms. "And Roy's convinced of it, too."

Jade gives her a look. "I'm pretty sure there's supposed to be a code of confidentiality that prohibits you from telling me things like that," she muses.

"As a psychiatrist, yes." Black Canary shrugs. "But as a mother, it's for the best."

At that word—_mother_—Jade feels her chest tighten for the very second time since she woke up in that hospital bed over a week ago. She's not used to _feeling_ things, because it's been far too long since she's allowed herself that luxury. She misses being numb and not caring. It hurt her a lot less than being reminded almost every second of what happened.

She leaves the gym without even acknowledging Black Canary as she passes, but she can feel the woman staring at where Jade has her hand over her stomach as she goes.

She tries to convince herself she doesn't care.

(It doesn't work.)

... ...

She has a nightmare that night.

She hasn't dreamt in years, or at least she hasn't _remembered_ any of her dreams in year. But this one is vivid and painful, and she isn't even aware that she's screaming until a voice is shouting over her own and hands are grasping her arms firmly, trying to rouse her awake. She sucks sharply as her eyes fly open, teardrops rolling over her temples and disappearing into her hair, heart fluttering wildly.

She demands to be brought to him, and Roy grasps her chin with his fingers and calls her crazy. Her nails draw blood when she tries to claw herself out of his grasp.

He doesn't care.

"You're not seeing Sportsmaster!" he shouts back, and it's not until she's returning his glare does she realize she can see his blue eyes.

It catches her off-guard, but she's _not_ getting sidetracked. "Why the hell not?"

He takes her wrist in his hand and flips her arm over so that she can see the scars there, somewhat fading but still all-too-visible even in just the lighting from the hallway. "You know what makes marks like these, Jade?" he questions, and she grinds her teeth because she _obviously_ just dreamt about it.

_Torture_.

"Do you really want to remember that?" Jade glares at him again. Black Canary's obviously told him about their chat. "You shouldn't have had to go through it the first time."

The door finally slides closed, and while she may not believe in _signs_ and _fate_ and all that crap, she also doesn't think it's entirely a coincidence that they're tucked away into total darkness just as new tears roll down her cheeks.

She can feel Roy gingerly run the pad of his thumb along her marred skin, feeling the bumps of the scars and bruises along her arm, and she closes her eyes at the warmth of his fingers as they slide though her hair and settle on the back of her neck. And when his lips find hers, she doesn't even let herself think of how pathetic she sounds when she whimpers before kissing him back with equal fervor.

He pulls her shirt over her head and pushes the blanket aside as he lays her back flat against the mattress, her head tipping back as he presses his lips to her throat and finds her pulse.

He runs his knuckles over her stomach, and she thinks maybe, _just maybe_, he might be starting to remember.

... ...

She wakes up with her back against Roy's chest, his arm around her waist and his chin tucked over her bare shoulder. His breath is warm against her neck and she knows he's awake, too, because his thumb is absently tracing itself over her hip.

It's been a while since she's woken up like this.

"How did you guys find me, Roy?" she asks, because it's been the question that's been nipping away to her more than anything since she first woke up in this damn hospital bed. "Tell me," she whispers, and she sounds far too close to how desperate and scared she really feels, but she really needs to know that…

She really needs to _know_.

When he doesn't answer, she begins to pull away. But then he's grasping her wrist and holding her in place, and even if she knows she can get out if she tried, she doesn't want to.

"Artemis was worried that your betrayal to your father would make you a target by his allies," he mumbles softly, but his voice is right next to her ear and she hears him clearly. "We began tracking you, but every time we'd pinpoint your location, you'd be gone just as easily as you had come. Then your trail brought us to Rio, of all places. We thought it'd been a false find, but went to check, anyway."

She squeezes her eyes shut, and flashes from her nightmare cloud her mind.

Maybe they weren't so imaginary after all.

"You were chained down to a table. There were instruments covered in blood all over the floor and you had wounds up and down your body. Artemis completely lost it."

In her mind, Jade sees a younger Artemis behind her eyelids, her eyes wide and tearful and horrified as their father dragged them away from their mother's bleeding body. They didn't even get to watch the ambulance take her away because they had to get out. She tries to imagine Artemis as she is now, the same devastation in her older features, and then quickly shuts the image out of her head.

"Something happened between us before Sportsmaster reprogrammed me," he says, and it's a statement rather than a question. It doesn't surprise her, either, because she's known for a while know that he'd eventually start asking questions, too.

"Yes," she answers, because if anyone deserves the truth from her, it's him. She doesn't say more, though, because even if _he's_ ready to hear the whole story, _she's_ not ready to tell it.

He grasps her chin and presses their lips together, his other arm curling even tighter around her waist.

(She thinks it's his way of saying that he's willing to wait.)

... ...

"Have you seen Dad yet?"

Jade's eyes snap onto Artemis on the treadmill beside hers, though Artemis's remains staring forward. "Have you?"

"I asked first," Artemis argues, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

"So?"

Artemis rolls her eyes and reaches back to tug her ponytail even tighter. "No, I haven't seen him," she answers, a little out of breath. Then she gets this smile on her face as she watches Wally and Roy sparring on the mats in front of them. "Besides, even if I wanted to, Wally wouldn't even _consider_ letting me anywhere near him. He hates the idea."

"He's amnesiac, anyway, so a visit would be pointless because we couldn't get information out of him," Jade adds because it's true, and not because Roy won't let her bring the idea up, either.

Artemis just smiles at her, though, like she already knows. "They probably talked about it together, huh?" she asks, nodding at the boys.

Yeah, probably.

Jade watches Roy pull Wally into a headlock when she hears Artemis ask, "Why don't you come home, Jade?"

She looks at her sister like she's insane. Well, she _is_ right now.

"It's been two weeks, and you can't live in the infirmary forever," Artemis reminds. "Besides, Mom will be happy to see you again. She'll be happy you're home. _I'll_ be happy your home."

Jade looks into her eyes, she sees the same sort of pleading she used to see in them when they would sit on Jade's bed and listen to their parents shouting at each other in the living room and Artemis would ask if everything was going to be okay. She'd wanted to hear _yes_ so badly each time she'd ask it back then, but maybe not as badly as she wants to hear it now.

"I don't think that's such a great idea, sis."

"Why not?" Artemis demands, but Jade doesn't look at her. Artemis sighs. "Just think about it, okay?"

Not like she has a choice, now that she's brought it up.

... ...

The first time she leaves the Watchtower is because they drag her to the mall to go shopping. Jade has no idea where they got the money for this, but Batman handed Artemis a few credit cards and said that it was for anything Jade would need when she moved out. They've mainly been looking at clothes since she can't really buy any furniture until she knows for sure what roof she'll be living under.

"You can move into my apartment, if you want," Roy says when Artemis leaves to get something in a smaller size.

Jade's standing in the open dressing stall, staring at him through the reflection of the mirror. (How he managed to convince the lady to let him into the women's dressing room is beyond her.)

"I'm moving out," he clarifies. "If you want to take it over instead, I could tell Bats."

Oh.

"Why are you moving out?"

He pushes his fingers through his hair, leaning back against the leather couch. "I'm always at the Watchtower or at Ollie's or Dinah's, anyway, so it's just a waste of money to pay rent for a place I'm never at anymore. Ollie invited me to move back into his place until… _until_."

Jade nods, because she understands where he's coming from. Actually, she's been thinking a similar thing ever since they left this morning.

"I won't need it." He doesn't look at all surprised by her answer, and gets up and crosses the distance between them. He places his hands at her hips and looking at her through the reflection, staring at her intensely in a way you shouldn't look at someone with when they're standing in just a bra and panties. "I'm moving back home," she adds in a whisper, even though it's pretty much implied.

"Good," he says, and she closes her eyes when he kisses her temple and lets his lips linger there.

... ...

When they get back to the room and she's sitting on the bed with Artemis, folding clothes and putting things in the suitcases they bought, Jade realizes that she could've ran if she wanted to.

They'd been out in the open, with (as far as she was aware of) no one tailing them to make sure she didn't ditch. Her bruises are pretty much gone and her injuries are definitely healed enough to take her anywhere she wants to go. She could've disappeared right in front of them like she's become so good at doing.

But she thinks (knows) the idea didn't even cross her mind while they were out because she's honestly tired of running away. Artemis got out just like Jade had told her to.

Now _she's_ finally free, too.

... ...

The morning she leaves the Watchtower, she comes back from breakfast to find a box tied with purple ribbon sitting on her bed. She plops down onto the mattress and pulls the box onto her lap, pulling the purple ribbon and tossing it aside.

The first thing she sees when she opens it is a pointed royal purple mask staring back at her. She takes it in her hand and runs her thumb over the smooth material, studies it for a minute before looking back into the box. Then she sets the mask aside and takes the costume in her hand, lifting it to reveal purple with deep blue and a splash of white.

When she did this, however, a small card fluttered out from between the folds of the material, and she picks it up and flips it over to read the cursive written on the other side:

_It would be a shame for all that talent to go to waste._

_Hopefully you'll consider fighting on our side of the law this time._

_-BC_

Jade just smirks.

... ...

Jade wears a cashmere sweater over skinny jeans to hide the scars. It's been years since she's seen her mother and she figures the last thing the woman needs is to see those marks, assuming she'd want to see Jade at all. She wonders how she reacted when Artemis told her she'd be coming home.

(She was too afraid to ask, though, even if she won't even admit it to herself.)

"We're home," Artemis announces, pushing the front door open and setting down the duffel she'd been carrying.

Jade sets her suitcases down and scans the room.

There's less furniture than she remembered, or maybe it'd just been rearranged to accommodate for the wheel chair. But other than that, the place hasn't changed much. The same décor sat in the same places, the picture frames still hung on the same spots on the walls (though some of the pictures had been swapped with new ones), and the aroma of teriyaki wafted from the loud kitchen.

Then a strangled gasp interrupts her thoughts, eyes snapping where her mother is sitting in her chair in the middle of the hallway.

"Jade?"

There're tears already falling down her mother's face, and Paula looks over her shoulder at Artemis as if trying to confirm that she isn't seeing things. Artemis swipes her finger over the corner of her eyes as she nods, and Paula turns back to look at Jade.

"_Jade_," she chokes out again, and Jade swallows a lump in her throat when Paula extends a hand towards her.

She hesitates, and for a second, she sees a panicked look on the woman's face. But then Jade is walking forward, slipping her hand in her mother's and kneeling in front of the wheelchair, ducking her head and watching her own tears splash against the hardwood. Paula tucks a finger under Jade's chin and makes her look up, a blindingly bright smile on her face.

"Welcome home," Paula whispers, and Jade can't help the whimper she lets out as she wraps her arms around her mother and feels her mother squeeze back just as tightly.

Her tears are warm and salty as they slide down her face, and she's cried more in these past two weeks than she has for the past few years.

She feels Paula fist her sweater tightly, as if afraid she may slip out from her grasp at any given second, and she squeezes her eyes shut. After everything that's happened to her over the past few years, she's _still_ that helpless daughter who's missed her mother.

... ...

Paula invites Green Arrow and Black Canary for dinner that Friday after Jade moves back in, which apparently is something they've done before.

Except this time, Roy now lives with them, so of course Paula insisted that he join them. When Artemis tells Jade this as they're getting ready in their room, Jade smiles a little and steps into leggings and pulls on a dark purple halter that made his eyes go wide when they'd been shopping the other day. Her sister just shakes her head and says something about Roy drooling all over his food.

"That's the idea," Jade winks as the doorbell chimes.

... ...

After dinner, Paula asks Jade to wash the dishes while everyone else moves into the living room for tea and almond macadamia cookies, and not long after Jade has the faucet on, Roy strolls into the kitchen munching on the remainder of his cookie.

He stands behind her with his hands resting on either corners of the sink, trapping her against the counter and his chest, and she flicks some water in his face just because she can. He chuckles as he wipes the droplets away and then rests the forehead against the back of her head.

And, she doesn't know what compels her to suddenly want to tell him, but then she's whispering, "You and I dated before… before _everything_," and holding her breath to hear his response.

When he doesn't say anything, she continues.

"You and I met in Taipei in almost a similar way to how the peace summit went down. But my dad had sent someone after me and you saved me, and we ended up sleeping together. We kept every one of our encounters after that a complete secret from anyone we knew, but Da—_Sportsmaster_ found out and decided to exploit it instead. We'd been together for over a year before this."

She pauses to see if he'll say something now, _anything_, but he remains quiet.

"I tried to fight him on it, but in the end he'd overpowered me by threatening to end your life instead. It wasn't until after that _encounter_ and he'd sent you back to Green Arrow that I'd gone to my doctor and she told me I'd had a miscarriage."

This time, she sees his hands curl into tight fists where they're resting against the counter, his knuckles quickly turning white.

"Roy, I—" she begins, but he pulls away and she has the water off in time to watch him walk into the hallway. She follows after him, glancing into the living room in her peripheral (they're all still chatting and oblivious to anything else) before turning back around to watch him walk into the bathroom. He doesn't close the door, though, so she pushes it back open and walks right in. "Roy—"

He has her back against the door in seconds, shutting it closed as he pins her against the tiled wall and presses their lips together. She moans against his lips and lets him tuck his hands behind the bend of her knee, lifting her legs to wrap them around his waist.

This is exactly how things started that night they first slept together, and all these memories sort of just crash over her at the same time like they'd been waiting for that breaking point. She doesn't even realize that she's crying for the umpteenth time until he brings his hand up to wipe a tear away with the pad of his thumb.

He loved her once and forgot, but she thinks he's starting to love her again.

... ...

She's come to realize that patrolling can either be quite fun or terribly boring.

Right now it's terribly boring.

When she tells Red Arrow this as they're gazing down over the sparkling ocean and cityscape below them, he just chuckles at her and says, "That's supposed to be a good thing." She rolls her eyes because, well, _yes_, she realizes this, but if something isn't going to happen soon then _she'll_ start causing trouble.

Then glass shatters and alarms go off down the block just beneath them, and he laughs when he sees how widely she's smiling.

"Well, you got your wish, Chesh," he teases, and she presses their lips together and kisses him longer than she probably should (they need to give the criminals a head start or it won't be as fun).

"_Huntress_," she corrects, and he just smiles at her in a way that tells her he remembered all along.


End file.
